Page 29 of Home Hearts Hooves

“No. I was waiting until Poppy was ready for all that. Once Mom knows, the whole town will know within a few hours, if they don’t already after our…conversation in the street. You know how she is with good news. When I graduated from vet school, I got countless messages about how proud my momma was and how I better come back soon, “because two vets are better than one.” Poppy would have been only a couple of years old then, still a baby, really. If I had come back then instead of traveling the world, Isabel would have probably told me about Poppy when Paul left, and I could have been a real dad to her.

“You think she will hate me?” Isabel’s eyes well with tears, and I step closer, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“She loved you, Izz. She might be mad at first, but she’ll get over it the second she meets her granddaughter.”

“I almost told her a few times.”

“Really?” I ask, and we move to sit as we wait for Poppy to return.

“Yeah. After Paul left,” she says, twisting her fingers in her lap. He knew he wasn’t Poppy’s father. Isabel was honest with him and her parents from the start. Poppy knew, too, from an early age. Though she didn’t know who her father was, Isabel had just told her that she loved him and that he didn’t know she was pregnant. And that’s true, too. Though looking back at it all, I should have known something was up. I should have picked up on the hints. Paul decided when Poppy was about three that farm and family weren’t his thing after all, and he took off with some woman he met passing through town. I remember Mom telling me she was divorced and thinking how sad that must be for her and her child.

“Why didn’t you tell her?” I ask.

“I thought I couldn’t tell your mother before I told you, and then I’d write you a letter or jot down what I wanted to say and make a plan to call you, but then I’d chicken out at the last minute.”

I place a hand over hers, and she looks at me, eyes glassy.

“I’m glad you told me first. It’s been amazing getting to know my little girl, and once Mom knows, I’ll have to share my time.” I laugh.

“You can tell her if you want to. We can tell everyone now,” Poppy says from the doorway. Wow, kids can be stealthy.

Isabel stands.

“There’s no rush, you can decide to take it slow if you want,” she says, but Poppy is shaking her head.

“I saw her across the road at the store. We can tell her now.”

“No,” I blurt. She frowns, the hurt in her gaze is like a knife in my heart. How do I love her so much when I just met her? I quickly go on to explain. “I mean, I don’t want her to find out this amazing news in a grocery store. I want it to be special where she can cheer and jump for joy without knocking over a tower of canned peaches.” Poppy’s expression flicks like a switch into excitement.

“We should throw a party for her,” Poppy exclaims.

“With balloons,” I say, and she claps.

“And streamers and cake. Mom makes the best cakes. You can help me make a cake, Mom, can’t you?”

“Sure,” Isabel replies. “But let’s keep the guest list small, just you, me, Pres, and your grandparents.”

“That’s probably wise. How about tomorrow? I only have one client in the morning, and then I’m closed for the day,” I say.

“Tomorrow works; do you want to do it here?” Isabel asks, looking around, and I shake my head.

“No, umm, Mom doesn’t come here, not since Dad passed.” Dad would have loved Poppy. I wonder if they ever met. He won’t get that chance now. The bitterness rises again. It’s not just what Isabel took from me that is hard to swallow; it’s what she’s stolen from my whole family. My dad will never know his grandchild. He lived in the town with her, and he never knew. My eyes prickle, and I blink back the tears that threaten to break past my resolve. I see more of my dad in Poppy than I do myself. Her smile, especially. I wonder if Mom will see it, too. Will it make her smile, or will it make her even angrier about what we lost? What he lost.

“Sorry, Pres,” Isabel says for the twentieth and not even close to being the last time. I force a smile for Poppy’s sake. “How about our place, then?” she asks.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, your mom likes to pick her fruit right from the tree, and we have cherries and strawberries ready to harvest. She’ll want some for her pies for the fair. I’ll send her a message to see if she’s free to come out. Should we say about ten?”

“Ten works for me. How about you, Poppy?” I ask, and she nods excitedly.

“Great. I’ll come over early and I’ll take care of the balloons and streamers, plus anything else you need,” I reply, and they leave to collect a few things for the cake that Isabel is helping Poppy bake, and I finish up at the clinic before heading back out to check on the birthing cows at Beaker brother’s Ranch.

Once mom knows, she’ll tell her friends, and the gossip will spread fast. I need to tell Dean myself. I don’t want him to hear it secondhand. I know we aren’t a couple or anything, but if we are going to one day maybe be something, he should know.

***

I pull onto the ranch and park the van beside the house. Sally-May waves to me from the front window, and I head towards the mini barn.

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